Pilsum Lighthouse (German: Pilsumer Leuchtturm) was built in 1891 as a sector light for the Emshörn channel on Germany's North Sea coast.[2] It is located on a dyke near the village of Pilsum in the municipality of Krummhörn.[3] It guided ships through the narrow channel until 1915.[2] During the First World War, its light was extinguished so that enemy ships could not navigate the route.[2] After that, it was no longer needed, because the channel was changed.[2] The height of the structure is 11 metres;[2] the height of the light about sea level is 15 metres. Today, the tower is one of the best-known symbols of East Frisia.[2]
 Pilsum Lighthouse on the dyke | |
 | |
| Location | Krummhörn, Germany |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 53°29′53″N 7°02′44″E / 53.498013°N 7.045658°E |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1891 |
| Construction | cast iron tower |
| Height | 11 metres (36 ft) |
| Shape | cylindrical tower with conical roof, no balcony and lantern |
| Markings | tower with horizontal red and yellow bands, green roof |
| Operator | Diechacht Krummhörn |
| Heritage | architectural heritage monument in Lower Saxony  |
| Light | |
| First lit | 1 October 1891 |
| Deactivated | 1915–2005[1] |
| Focal height | 15 m (49 ft) |
| Characteristic | not available |
Film
editThe tower grew in popularity as a result of the film Otto: The Alien from East Frisia by comedian Otto Waalkes.[2] In the film Otto lives in the lighthouse. Although the lighthouse is one of the central scenes in Otto: The Alien from East Frisia, for some reason the picture used on cinema advertisements and later on the inlays of the video and DVD editions was of the Westerheversand Lighthouse in Schleswig-Holstein, not the Pilsum Lighthouse.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Germany: North Frisia". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g Scheiblich, Reinhard; Staack, Hans Helge (2010). Leuchttürme Lexikon [Glossary of Lighthouses] (in German). Edition Ellert & Richter. pp. 136–138. ISBN 978-3-8319-0038-1.
- ^ Charles, V. (2015). Lighthouses. Our Earth. Parkstone International. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-78525-732-2. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
External links
edit- Pilsum Lighthouse (in German)
- Information and photos of Pilsum Lighthouse Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine at www.leuchtturm-welt.de (in German)
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